FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands (September 23, 2020) – In April of this year, the Turks & Caicos Tourist Board announced the launch of a new strategic marketing campaign in an effort to keep Turks and Caicos Islands in the forefront of the minds of potential visitors. The marketing campaign, which was planned in a phased approach over six months, has resulted in increased exposure for the destination through print and online advertising, enhanced public relations with a corresponding media value of over $99 million dollars and greater stakeholder engagement and partnerships.

“The Tourist Board, in light of the current pandemic, was challenged to revamp our strategy in order to ensure that TCI’s tourism industry would recover once our borders reopened,” said Pamela Ewing, Director of Tourism for the Turks and Caicos Islands Tourist Board. “We are already seeing positive results from our efforts. The Tourist Board is taking a global approach to marketing the destination while still ensuring that we invest primarily in our top source market – the USA. As borders throughout the region reopen and tourists return to the Caribbean, the Turks and Caicos Islands is among the most sought-after destinations. Our campaign continues and we will leverage our industry partnerships to position the Turks and Caicos Islands as the premier luxury Caribbean destination.”

The Tourist Board has engaged in a number of initiatives as part of the marketing campaign including:

Activities in US Market

• Promotional campaign with Expedia.
• Promotion with American Airlines and American Airlines Vacations.
• Radio advertisements in the New York area from July 20^th to September 30^th, 2020.
• The Tourist Board has joined Signature Travel Network which provides access to over 5,000 top tier travel agents.
• The Tourist Board has hosted the following webinars to provide updates on the destination to our travel partners:
  • Classic Vacations webinar with over 700 travel agents
  • Apple Leisure Group webinar with over 200 travel agents
  • Travel Leaders webinar with over 60 travel agents
• Full page ad in Bliss magazine related to weddings/honeymoons.
• The Tourist Board will participate in the Ascend Virtual Tradeshow on September 23^rd which provides the opportunity to exhibit to over 2,000 travel agents.
• Marketing campaign with Conde Nast Traveler including a digital promotion and email blast to 30K subscribers.
• Full page advertisement and editorial in New York Lifestyle magazine’s upcoming winter issue.
• Multi-page advertisement in Social Life Magazine and sponsored Social Life Hampton’s Polo event.
• Full page advertisement, digital banners on website and social media posts with Elevated Lifestyle Magazine.
• Digital advertisement on Travel Weekly’s website and social media.

Activities in UK/Europe Market

• Promotional campaign with Expedia.
• The Tourist Board hosted seminars and sales calls in Cattolicaa, Rimini, Cervia, Dolo, Conegliano Veneto and Venice, Italy.

Activities in Canadian Market

• Promotional campaign with Air Canada Vacations.
• Turks and Caicos will be participating in the Caribbean Comeback virtual conference on September 30^th.
• Half page advertisement and half page editorial in Horizon Travel & Lifestyle Magazine September issue which is delivered to 100,000 subscribers of the Toronto Star.
• Large digital billboard in Dundas Square from September 14^th – 20^th.

New Markets

• The Tourist Board is penetrating new markets as our market research has revealed that these potential markets are optimal for expansion of Brand Turks and Caicos based on trends in the travel and tourism industry. This is being achieved by:
  • Print advertisement in India through Travel + Leisure related to weddings and honeymoons
  • Print advertisement in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries with Unique Private Jets magazine. This also allows us to tap into a new niche – private jets.

Public Relations

• In May the Tourist Board named J. Wade Public Relations as its agency of record. The US based firm has developed and is executing a strategic public relations campaign that expands upon the Turks and Caicos Islands’ position as a five-star luxury destination.
• Turks and Caicos has received media coverage in a number of online publications including Caribbean Journal, Forbes, Travel Agent Central, Travel Weekly, Conde Nast Traveler, Recommend, Travel Pulse, MSN Lifestyle, Insider Travel Report, The Points Guy, People, Robb Report, Drift Magazine, Time Out, Travel + Leisure, Frommer’s, Vogue and AFAR.
• From May 29^th to August 20^th our media coverage has garnered a total of 1,063,057,026 gross impressions with a corresponding media value of over $99 million dollars.
• Press Trips:
  • Forbes – Travel writer visited in July and the coverage has not only ran on Forbes but also Fodor’s Travel.
  • Upcoming press trips confirmed for Beverly Hills Magazine, TripSavvy, Travel + Leisure online and Business Insider.

Social Media

• Distribution and digital marketing partnership with Connect Digital Marketing to promote the destination and the new TCI Assured program to their 235K followers.
• New social media campaign to highlight the tourism related businesses including hotels that are currently open for business.

Partnerships

• Strengthened strategic partnership with Invest TC by collaborating marketing initiatives where there is synergy. The Tourist Board has partnered for the second time with Invest TC to advertise in Unique Private Jets magazine.
• Collaborated with the Turks and Caicos Islands Airport Authority on a multi-page feature in Business Focus Magazine.

General Activities

• The Tourist Board launched a new website on July 14^th. The new website is modern and is more representative of our luxury brand.
• Produced and released two new destination videos entitled ‘We Are Turks & Caicos’ and ‘Rediscover Turks & Caicos’.
• Launch of the TCI Assured travel authorization portal and quality assurance program in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Tourism.
• A total of four full page advertisements in Times of the Islands magazine summer and fall issues.
• The training department commenced virtual training sessions in customer service and the ‘Know Your Turks & Caicos’ modules.
• Plans are currently underway to host:
  • 16^th Annual Turks and Caicos Conference (TACC) in a virtual format on October 15^th.
  • Tourism Environmental Awareness Month (TEAM) during November. Our theme and event schedule will be released at a later date.